The Struggle: rejected, anxious, alone, ashamed, overwhelmed, vulnerable, stuck

What should I do when I don't know what to do?

Talk to God

Think about God

Trust God

○ Psalm 139: Known by God

○ Keegan Brady

A Dangerous Thing

○ In a famous poem written in 1709, Alexander Pope writes:

"A little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

And drinking largely sobers us again."

Psalms - The prayer book of the Bible

○ The Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible.

○ "The Lord’s prayer tells you, in a nutshell, what to pray. But it’s the

Psalms that teaches you how to pray." — Tim Keller

○ More often than not, the Psalms are not what God is saying to us, but

rather what we should be saying to God.

Four Attributes, Four Applications

○ Omniscience: God’s complete knowledge of me (vv. 1–6)

○ Omnipresence: God with me in every place (vv. 7–12)

○ Creatorship: God’s sovereign ownership of every part of me (vv.

13–18)

○ Holiness: God’s will that I be like Him (vv. 19–24)

Point 1: God Knows Us (vv. 1–6) (Could maybe each be a different

slide)

○ Genesis 3:7 - Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that

they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made

themselves loincloths.

○ Deut. 34:10 - And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like

Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face

○ Gen 4:17 - Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch.

○ Exodus 2:25 - God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

Point 2: God is With Us (vv. 7–12)

○ The Psalms encounter every human condition. You are not alone.

Point 3: God Made Us (vv. 13–18)

○ “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are

your works; my soul knows it very well.” — Psalm 139:14

○ This world doesn’t need more edited, filtered faces; it needs more

praise of the Creator.

Point 4: God Calls Us to Walk in Obedience (vv. 19–24)

○ “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my

thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in

the way everlasting!” — Psalm 139:23–24

○ Following Jesus is not about being "superior" or "cultural"—it is about

displaying His grace and goodness to the world.

“Crying in the Cave: Psalm 142”

Op: Jn11:35; Heb 5:7; Lk 7:36-50

“Try Tears.” - William Booth

David’s Desperation (v.1-4)

Abundance of Foes

My complaints, my troubles, my enemies

B. Absence of Friends

1. “No One” - Prov. 18:24— 400 men

II. David’s Realization (v.5-7)

A. God Alone is his Refuge

B. God Alone is his ONLY Desire

C. God Alone is his Rescuer

D. God Alone is his Liberator (for praise)

E. God Alone gives Goodness (testimony/witness)

CL: “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle.You have recorded each one in your book.”- Ps 56:8

“Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil." Gandalf at the Grey Havens

How does God expand our faith when wicked people prosper?



Main Point: God expands our faith by drawing us near to see that He Himself is our true prosperity.

1. Distrust of God’s goodness pulls us away from God (v1-16)


2. God reorders what we see and what we treasure when we draw near to Him (v17-25).


3. God Himself, not His gifts, is our true prosperity. (V26-28)

Psalms 44 - God expands our faith through lament rooted in His lovingkindness. 



Psalms 73 - God expands our faith by drawing us near to see that He Himself is our true prosperity.

Chiangmai Christian Fellowship

Big Idea - What is genuine worship? Is my worship in spirit and in truth? Am I the kind of worshipper God is seeking? the Father is seeking worshippers who draw near to the real God through his Spirit and his Son, and in Christ, the search is over for anyone willing to be found.

Big Idea - When we come to Jesus, desperate for help, what does he want our faith to finally hold onto? Not the sign we ask for, nor even the promise we're given, but the Person himself — the Christ whose cross and empty tomb give a life that death cannot take."

Big Idea - Where does joy come from? We know the Sunday School answer: “God, Jesus, the Bible!” But the real test of where we think joy comes from is to examine our priorities. We prioritize the things we believe will give us joy, directly or indirectly. Where does joy come from, and do the priorities we have in life line up with the true source of joy?

Joy comes from God alone, which means we will prioritize worship over worldly pursuits, but even more than that, joy comes from doing God's work, which means we will prioritize the work of the harvest over looking out for myself. This joy overflows from our heart into action, not the forced priority of duty or obligation. But joy is not always that simple or easy. The good news is that Jesus is the ultimate example of finding HIs greatest joy through HIs deepest suffering!

Chiangmai Christian Fellowship

Big Idea - "We can only lose well — and find lasting joy — when our life orbits the Son who is both above all and loves us as our Bridegroom."